strength
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This game had nothing to do with strength. Gonzaga is not a power team with great strength. They shot 62% because they were wide open and made like 15 layups.
Our team should have went right at them like Uthoff did on that dunk. The rest of the team didn't follow his lead. I didn't think Gonzaga's defense was that good.
If we would have stopped hedging then Gonzaga wouldn't have had as many free layups. Personally I think hedging is a stupid tactic because the opponents players are left alone under the rim. Majority of the time we get called for a foul anyway.
Our team should have went right at them like Uthoff did on that dunk. The rest of the team didn't follow his lead. I didn't think Gonzaga's defense was that good.
If we would have stopped hedging then Gonzaga wouldn't have had as many free layups. Personally I think hedging is a stupid tactic because the opponents players are left alone under the rim. Majority of the time we get called for a foul anyway.
If you don't think strength is needed by this team you are living in the 70's. How many times have you seen Gabe JOk and JU get the ball down low and have it stripped. Jok needs a lot more muscle. What is he 6'6" what was is rebounding average. I Don't care if you are a guard or center you aren't going to be physical if you are weak you are tentative. Not once have I seen JOk mix it up inside.
I'm not saying we don't need players with stength. Just saying that Gonzaga is not a team that have strong players.
Uthoff scored 20 and White scored 19. Okafor will go for 30+ on these guys. Their bigs are slow and Duke's guards will strip them before they get those shots away. There won't be any back door buckets for them. They will have to shoot all outside shots because Duke is much quicker.
Uthoff scored 20 and White scored 19. Okafor will go for 30+ on these guys. Their bigs are slow and Duke's guards will strip them before they get those shots away. There won't be any back door buckets for them. They will have to shoot all outside shots because Duke is much quicker.
Adding bulk does not always lead to more success. For example, Basabe was a more effective player when he was playing at a smaller weight. When he bulked up his sophomore year he lost some of the athleticism that made him such a great rebounder.
In a vaccuum, more strength is better than less. However, I will take as many long, lean, athletic and skilled players as I can get. I would rather have an Aaron White, Uthoff, or Eric Hanson than a Brennan Cougill or Seth Gorney.
In a vaccuum, more strength is better than less. However, I will take as many long, lean, athletic and skilled players as I can get. I would rather have an Aaron White, Uthoff, or Eric Hanson than a Brennan Cougill or Seth Gorney.
I agree 100% and honestly I think our strength program needs a serious look. Uthoff's body fat % is so low he needs a heating pad and a hooded sweatshirt on the bench to maintain his body temperature. That's a problem. I am not saying they need more bulk, I am saying they need more strength....not necessarily the same thing. You add 20 lbs of muscle to Woody and he is an NBA Center.
Hedging is a defensive tactic taught at every level of basketball. Last night, we got in trouble (for the first time during Fran's tenure really) with it because Zaga's shooters were so good from the outside our guards were too slow to rotate over to control the basket. Hedging is usually a very effective way of slowing down offense. Just got stretched out too far last night. I like that Fran uses it as much as he does. Kind of a lost piece of basketball defense nowadays if you ask me.
Jok doesn't need to add anymore muscle. He's a wing and he already rebounds at a pretty decent rate. Uthoff, Uhl, and Woody could use a little more muscle though.
Funny you should start this post. My best friend just told me his college roommate, who's an asst coach at a D1 school, was watching film of Iowa earlier in the year (preparing for a team Iowa had played earlier in the season) and the head coach was teasing the asst coach, wondering if Iowa ever lifts weights.
Uthoff definitely needs to get stronger, as do many of the Hawks. I like to see Uthoff gain about 10 pounds of muscle and work all summer on improving his 3 pt shot. If he can do this I agree with you he could play in the NBA.
Despite some high seeds, Alford has never gotten a team past the Sweet 16, in 19 years at the D1 level. I don't recall what his first UCLA team was seeded, but the last 2 times he had a 2 seed, before that, his teams were one and done in the NCAA Tourney (including the NW State game, and his last team at NM). I do agree with 77 that it's not a given Gonzaga will play Duke.
I'd like to see Fran get more involved in making strength and conditioning decisions. Based on some past articles it seems he leaves decisions up to the players and the S&C staff. If a player doesn't want to work on his strength he isn't forced to. I don't have any inside info, but in following Hawkeye BBall since the mid-70's I got the impression several previous coaches did coordinate strength work with the training staff's. Dr Tom's teams were pretty physical, and they definitely believed in beefing up players. I think Alford and Lickliter did as well.
Hawks incoming recruiting class has some kids who are already strong (Wagner, Hutton and Fleming), and will get even stronger, but this year's team really doesn't have players who are built to bulk up much. Uthoff, Jok and Uhl can add maybe10 lbs of muscle, but they will still be pretty thin. Last scholarship needs to be a 6'-8"+ dude with some muscle, who can guard the paint and rebound.
Pretty clear that Fran wants his players lean. Gatens cut, Basabe cut. No other player has even tried to pack on muscle. Those guys are college athletes, they could pack on the pounds if they wanted.
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In basketball, lean muscle is better than bulk. With extra bulk you lose range of motion in your arms and you can disrupt your shooting ability with the added bulk as well.
Very few players are good because of their strength. Most are good because of their skill, and if they can add lean muscle to increase their strength then that is a plus.
Remember Aaron Fuller during Lick's years? He showed very good promises when he played at IA and then transferred to USC and really bulked up. He didn't seem to have the same quickness and scoring ability like he displayed at IA when he was leaner and quicker. Bulking up doesn't help when the individual's body doesn't naturally carried the added muscle. IA has a weight training coach, they know what is needed.
I seriously hope you are kidding. Woody is as close to an NBA center as I am to dating Jessica Alba.
Uthoff at the 4 gets us outrebounded every nite. He and White really got pushed around by Gonzaga.
Good post. I don't think you can simply take a lean guy like Uthoff and make him bulk up. He can get strong, but should not try to change his body shape.
In my opinion, if you want bulk, you have to recruit bulk. Find a big wide body to recruit.
There isn't a team in the BIG that plays 2 front court players at the same time as big as Sabonis and Karnowski. There are a bunch of smallish stretch 4s in the BIG so I don't think it will be too big of a deal. With Uhl/Uthoff at the 3/4 were still a very long team.
Originally posted by coffhawk:
Good post. I don't think you can simply take a lean guy like Uthoff and make him bulk up. He can get strong, but should not try to change his body shape.
In my opinion, if you want bulk, you have to recruit bulk. Find a big wide body to recruit.
+2 Working out in the summer to official practices or weight training is against the NCAA rules. Last summer there was an article or two talking about how many of the Hawkeyes were lifting weights and preparing for the 2014/15 season. I think that is where McCaffery mentioned he wasn't involved.
Think about it. Would McCaffery REALLY just leave it up to his players as if he didn't give a darnn?
Next, if anyone thinks Jok needs muscle go find him and ask him to take off his shirt. He is a brick freaking wall of muscle. Even his back looks like a mountain range.
Third, yes, we have some lean guys. Uthoff and Uhl in particular. But from my perspective there is more to basketball than just bulk. Some players are speed and finesse types, others are powerful bangers. It's nice to have both, and yes we just met a mountain of a banger playing for Gonzaga. But we're not going to make bangers out of Uhl and Uthoff, and we're just as likely to ruin what they are if we try.
Woody? Sure, he could go from 245 maybe up to 260 I suppose. (It may effect his jumping of course.) But the only way we're getting another banger inside is to recruit one. I doubt it but maybe Wagner or Hutton could become a shorter but rounder four?
Four, a situational banger to spell Woody? Sure! Go get one if we want to have the option to always have a bust 'em up type in the game. (Sort of...Woody is kind of a tweener) But it will be the first time in a long time we have two of them. Olaseni and White were finesse guys. At power forward we give up a little weight playing Uhl or Uthoff, but stylistically we lose little...and in fact I think our defense improves.
Conclusion. Again, there is more to winning basketball than who could win an arm wrestling match. Speed for one thing. Frank Kaminsky is 242 lbs. Would you rather have him or Alex Olah, 270, Issac Haas, 297 or Przemek Karnowski, 288?
Some people act like adding muscle ruins basketball players. Look at Michigan State year after year - almost all of their rotation guys are much more muscular than any Iowa guys.
Of course, this isn't football either - we don't pack 20 pounds on everyone their first year.
Of course, this isn't football either - we don't pack 20 pounds on everyone their first year.
Agree, but I sure wouldn't mind having Olah, Haas or Karnowski in a Hawkeye uniform. Fran wants lean guys who can run, but it would be nice to have a brute or two to combat the way Izzo and a few other coaches want to play.Originally posted by DanL53:
Originally posted by coffhawk:
Good post. I don't think you can simply take a lean guy like Uthoff and make him bulk up. He can get strong, but should not try to change his body shape.
In my opinion, if you want bulk, you have to recruit bulk. Find a big wide body to recruit.
+2 Working out in the summer to official practices or weight training is against the NCAA rules. Last summer there was an article or two talking about how many of the Hawkeyes were lifting weights and preparing for the 2014/15 season. I think that is where McCaffery mentioned he wasn't involved.
Think about it. Would McCaffery REALLY just leave it up to his players as if he didn't give a darnn?
Next, if anyone thinks Jok needs muscle go find him and ask him to take off his shirt. He is a brick freaking wall of muscle. Even his back looks like a mountain range.
Third, yes, we have some lean guys. Uthoff and Uhl in particular. But from my perspective there is more to basketball than just bulk. Some players are speed and finesse types, others are powerful bangers. It's nice to have both, and yes we just met a mountain of a banger playing for Gonzaga. But we're not going to make bangers out of Uhl and Uthoff, and we're just as likely to ruin what they are if we try.
Woody? Sure, he could go from 245 maybe up to 260 I suppose. (It may effect his jumping of course.) But the only way we're getting another banger inside is to recruit one. I doubt it but maybe Wagner or Hutton could become a shorter but rounder four?
Four, a situational banger to spell Woody? Sure! Go get one if we want to have the option to always have a bust 'em up type in the game. (Sort of...Woody is kind of a tweener) But it will be the first time in a long time we have two of them. Olaseni and White were finesse guys. At power forward we give up a little weight playing Uhl or Uthoff, but stylistically we lose little...and in fact I think our defense improves.
Conclusion. Again, there is more to winning basketball than who could win an arm wrestling match. Speed for one thing. Frank Kaminsky is 242 lbs. Would you rather have him or Alex Olah, 270, Issac Haas, 297 or Przemek Karnowski, 288?
Woody could use a lot more muscle. No way it can make his Vertical or quickness any worse or make him shoot bunnies any worse. If he were a little fat like that Polish guy, the added girth would give him some more room to finish around basket.
Yes, but did Fran dictate that Basabe put on weight, or did he suggest it might make him better? I seem to recall an article about Jok last summer. IIRC he stated that he didn't put in the work in the weight room as a freshman, but he was doing more weight training, and eating better going into his sophomore year.
